Alan Moore on why the beach is his inspiration

Alan Moore, business innovator, author, curator and craftsman of creative businesses, talks about the powerful vastness of the beach, how sometimes we need to ‘just be’… and the importance of integrating beauty into our daily lives.

A ‘hole-and-corner’ is an old English term meaning a secret place: somewhere you go to escape, to be inspired, to contemplate and create. Where is your ‘hole-and-corner’?
Holkham Beach, Norfolk.

Can you explain why it is so special to you?
The beach is where vast sky meets vast sea. It’s like coming home. The beach is spiritually uplifting, where I can restore – like stepping off land into the blue. Also it’s a great leveller. I love the scale, its drama and sensuality, inviting me to be open to all life has to offer. The constant lesson it teaches is that life is impermanent. It is the same every day, yet completely different.

Is it important to you to have somewhere to escape from the hustle and bustle of life?
Beauty is restorative: it is vital to our long-term well-being. We all need to find time to nurture ourselves. If we can be more beautiful in our thoughts and in our actions, we can learn to live and work more beautifully. We need that time to contemplate, feel, meditate… to ‘just be’.

What do you like to listen to when you’re working?
Music is soul food for me, everything from, AC/DC to Brahms’ Ein Deutsche Requiem, KD Lang, Miles Davis, Dr Dre and Rimur. It just needs to beautiful and suits my mood. Sometimes, its silence, that is music in itself.

What elements do you think make a perfect ‘hole-and-corner’?
Each to their own…!

Is it private to you or do you let other people visit?
The beach is for all. Shared by and nurtured by all. Yet it is, for each and everyone of us, our own private domain. As Muhammad Ali once said, ‘Me. We’.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
No matter the provocation, to respond in anger is not wise.
And always have a piss before you leave the pub. Priceless advice.

Describe your most memorable performance and why?
A moment of complete unexpected spiritual transcendence: it changed my belief in the power of love in its purest form. It taught me there is another way to be in the world. You find beauty – the experience taught me – by opening your heart unconditionally.